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No meal all year gets as much attention as the one tomorrow. For many families, it’s an opportunity to celebrate decades-old rituals. For others it’s a chance to see how far tradition can be bent without breaking, or even how far one can depart from everything conventional and still call it Thanksgiving.

For most of our history, cider and beer would have been the traditional accompaniment to the festive harvest suppers the Thanksgiving meal is intended to recall. It was only in the late 20th century, as Americans gradually shifted their allegiance from these homey beverages to wine, that a new fault line in national values emerged over the question of whether roast turkey and a boiled turnip were better served by a bottle of red or a bottle of white.

We come down firmly on both sides of this question. Either is right. Both even better.

Turkey is forgiving poultry - brined, roasted, grilled, or stuffed. Although exotic side dishes can occasionally pose a pairing challenge, it’s not that hard to land on a couple of bottles that will do justice to your menu by keeping a few enological truisms in mind. First, hefty wines seldom prove as versatile as those toward the lighter end of the spectrum. Second, high levels of natural acidity give life and freshness to wine that make the meal sing. Third, unoaked or very lightly oaked wines let fruit and soil flavors shine through.

Our practice has long been to put both red and white on the table and let guests choose for themselves, even shift from one to another. It makes diners happy.

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Whether hewing close to tradition or veering purposely from it, the one unchanging element is the holiday table itself. To gather around it is to link ourselves with generations of Americans who in good times and bad have seldom failed to find something worth being thankful for. A golden bird and a pumpkin pie may be on the menu, but memory, community, and continuity are the true bill of fare.

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